In this biology science fair project, you will observe how the Physarum polycephalum (P. polycephalum) organism responds to various amounts of glucose. P. polycephalum is easy to grow in a petri dish and responds in complex ways to its environment. Will it grow toward the chemical as it looks for a meal, or will it flee, trying to avoid further contact? Try this science fair project to learn more about chemotaxis in the fascinating Physarum polycephalum.
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MicroBio_p028

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Time Required

Long (2-4 weeks)

Prerequisites

An introductory course in chemistry would be useful.

Material Availability

You will need to order the "Chemotaxis in Physarum" kit online; see the Materials and Equipment list for details. This item may have to be ordered by your teacher.

Cost

Average ($50 - $100)

Safety

Be careful working with sharp blades. Adult supervision is recommended.

Do you like drawing or painting? What if you could build a robot that creates its own art? In this project, you will create your own Art Bot, a robot with markers for "legs" that wobbles across a piece of paper, creating drawings as it moves. You can then customize your robot to change how it draws. This is a beginner-level project with no robotics experience necessary, so if you want to try building your own robot, this is a great place to start!
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Robotics_p014

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Time Required

Average (6-10 days)

Prerequisites

None

Material Availability

For your convenience a kit for this project is available at the . Estimated project time includes time for shipping of the kit.

Extinct might be a word you associate with animals that lived long ago, like the dinosaurs, but did you know that over 18,000 species are classified as "threatened" (susceptible to extinction) today? Scientists involved in wildlife conservation have a tough job; they are in charge of determining what needs to be done to prevent a species from becoming extinct. Habitat, food supply, and impacts of local human populations are just a few of the factors these scientists take into account. It is a…
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EnvSci_p057

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Time Required

Short (2-5 days)

Prerequisites

None.

Material Availability

This science project requires a computer you can use to download and save data sets, and install Google Earth Pro, a free mapping program. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.

A nice hot cup of tea sure can wake and warm you up in the morning. In this project, you will investigate the chemistry of tea. The longer you steep a tea bag in hot water, the stronger the tea will be. But how does the strength of the tea change with longer brewing time? In this project you will make a very simple electronic device to measure the strength of tea. The device will determine how strong the tea is by measuring the amount of light the tea absorbs.
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FoodSci_p058

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Time Required

Average (6-10 days)

Prerequisites

None

Material Availability

Specialty electronics items are required. A kit is available from the . Time required includes shipping for the kit.

Our genes are made up of hundreds to millions of building blocks, called DNA nucleotides, and if
just a single nucleotide of DNA becomes mutated it might cause a devastating genetic disease. But
sometimes a mutation actually does no damage. What kinds of mutations have to occur to cause a genetic disease?
In this science project, you will explore online genetic databases to identify how a mutation in a gene
can result in a dysfunctional protein, and how other mutations may have no effect…
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The Briggs-Rauscher (BR) chemical reaction is often used in chemical demonstrations because of its dramatic color changes. When the chemicals are mixed together, the clear solution turns amber, then dark blue, and then fades to clear again. The cycle repeats 10 or more times. Although the chemistry is complicated, the reaction is easy to set up and run in your kitchen. The goal of this science project is to build a device that can capture the changes of the BR reaction for analysis on a…
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Chem_p098

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Time Required

Long (2-4 weeks)

Prerequisites

A course in chemistry is a prerequisite. Some familiarity with electronics would be helpful, but is not required. This is an advanced science project, so you will have to do a lot of independent, creative problem solving as you work through the steps of the procedure.

Material Availability

You will need to purchase some items online. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.

Cost

Average ($50 - $100)

Safety

Always wear gloves and safety goggles when working with chemicals. The iodine solution formed in the procedure will stain skin and clothes, so should be handled carefully. Adult supervision is recommended.

Have you ever tried to pack a suitcase? If so, you know that no matter how hard you try, there is a limit to the amount you can cram in, which means if you have more stuff, you need a bigger suitcase! Do you think the same principle applies to DNA in a cell? Does an animal with a bigger genome need a larger cell nucleus to store its DNA? Try this science project and find out!
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Genom_p013

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Time Required

Short (2-5 days)

Prerequisites

None

Material Availability

This science fair project requires the use of a computer with Internet access.

You might like to play in the autumn leaves and winter snow, but have you noticed that many birds don't like to stick around for the cold weather? And instead of the birds you're used to seeing in the warm months, your new feathered friends might be Canada geese. Why is that? Various types of birds and other animals travel from one place to another either in search of food, warmer temperatures, or other things they need to survive. This type of traveling is called migration. Try starting your…
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Zoo_p052

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Time Required

Average (6-10 days)

Prerequisites

You need access to a place where you can feed birds, such as ducks, geese, pigeons, or seagulls. See the Experimental Procedure for more details.

Do you ever wonder how pirates sailed the seven seas? The two most important things a pirate could have (besides a parrot and big hat) were a compass and an accurate watch. Ancient navigators didn't know about compasses, so how did they know where they were going? Could they have used the stars to know which way to go?
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